Date: Sun, 22 Dec 1996 09:45:11 -0500
 
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     WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 (UPI) --According to Javier Solana, the NATO
Secretary-General, their are no plans to deploy nuclear weapons to
countries that might eventually join the alliance. Countries like
Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary hope to become NATO-member dunring
a summit in July. Deploying nuclear arms in those countries would be
seen by Russia as a security threat.

     KIEV, Ukraine, Dec. 18 (Reuter) - Ukraine officials say they
have to remove the (melted) fuel to rule out a chain reaction will
happen. According to them it will take 70 years to make the
sarcophagus around Chernobyl 4 safe: 15 years to get the funding and 50
years to remove and process the fuel. G-7 and Ukraine held a two-day
meeting near Chernobyl focusing on funding the closure and work
needed to fix the concrete sarcophagus built to prevent leakage.

     SYDNEY, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Australia announced that it will
appoint a new defense attache to Paris in early 1997. With this move
Australia tries to restore its relationship with France, which wasn't
too good after the French nuclear tests in the Pacific.

     WELLINGTON, Dec 18 (Reuter) - New Zealand is seeking assurance
from Japan that a shipment of plutonium waste is not passing through
its exclusive economic zone. According to Greenpeace such a shipment
from France to Japan will pass through the Tasman Sea in February.

     WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 (Reuter) - United States' Energy Department
is not able to accept spent fuel on Jan. 31, 1998 as promised, as they
now officially announced. DOE asked the utilities for suggestions how
to deal with the spent from. DOE's announced came after a federal
court decided that disposing of spent fuel must start in 1998 to
comply with the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982. DOE will not appeal
the decision. Nine nuclear plants have run out of space in pools for
spent fuel, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute.

     MOSCOW, Dec 19 (Reuter) - Yuli Khariton died at the age
of 92. Khariton is widely regarded as the father of the Soviet
atom bomb. He headed the secret city of Arzamas-16 for more
than 45 years. He died there too.

     JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Dec. 19 (Reuter) - South
Africa is saying that the plutonium waste shipment from France
to Japan will not enter South African waters. The
Environmental Minister says he got assurance from Japan about
that, but said also that he expected confirmation about the
route next week.

     SPRINGFIELD, US, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- A government panel in
the state of Illinois adopted guidelines for the selection of
a low-level radioactive waste storage site in about three
years. These guidelines will mean that it likely will be
placed in a rural part of central or northern Illinois. A
survey of potential sites will take up the next 15 months.

     HARTFORD, US, Dec 18 (Reuter) - Plans by Northeast
Utilities to restart their idle Millstone reactor by early
1998 might be too optimistic, accoording to the US Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC). The two reactors were closed in
March for safety reasons.